ITSAZOO Theatre Productions | Thinking Outside the Cage

PRODUCTIONS

2009

10 x 10

Originally conceived by ITSAZOO’s Artistic Associate, Cameron Anderson, as a way for Vancouver’s young theatre community to preview 10 minutes of new, original work, 10x10 has since morphed into a no holds barred, anything goes, garage sale of theatrical insanity.
Ten shows. Ten minutes each. One night of mayhem.
Over the past year ITSAZOO has produced four nights of 10x10 at Cafe Deux Soleil on Commercial Drive. 10 minute acts have included everything from stand up, to original dramatic scenes, to cirque, to rap, to clown, to dance, to sketch comedy, to a live, improvised music video!
We are always looking for performers, comedians, musicians, storytellers, or anything else you can think of to perform on the 10x10 stage. If you are interested, or just need more info, click here to email us.

The Road to Canterbury

By Sebastien Archibald
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin July 2009—Mount Douglas Park, Victoria BC
August 2009—Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver BC
August 2009—Gabriola Theatre Festival, Gabriola Island BC Updated for the 21st Century, The Road to Canterbury features contemporary counterparts of Chaucer’s classic characters telling hilarious, insightful, and often sordid tales of love, power, and religion. Five tourists, who are (unbeknownst to them) modern versions of The Canterbury Tales’ classic characters, partake in a guided tour themed around Chaucer’s life and times. The tour is lead by a chipper Chaucer enthusiast, who leads the audience through the beautiful landscape of the Park. However, he quickly looses control of the proceedings when various “audience members” take over and begin telling their own stories, complete with re-written modern pop songs. The Knight is now a mercenary. The Wife of Bath has morphed into a gin-swilling British socialite. The Miller has transformed into a beatnik. The Road To Canterbury showcases the timelessness of The Canterbury Tales and the themes it explored with three main tools Chaucer would no doubt approve of: wit, satire, and music.

The Zoo Story

By Edward Albee
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin April 2009—Victoria BC, Vancouver BC

Death of a Clown

By Sebastien Archibald
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin March 2009—The PAL Theatre, Vancouver BC

2008

Four Course Meal

A Festival of New One-Act Plays
November, 2008 at Havana Theatre, Vancouver BC Milmish by Rachel Aberle (Vancouver), directed by Quinn Harris Milmish is half-frog/half human. Her father accepts her for who she is, but her mother wants her to ‘evolve’ and be more human, so she sends her to UnSchool, where Milmish learns to eat real food, not flies, and to walk instead of hop. She befriends a new student, Greg, who is gay, and the two of them are cast in a morality play at school. But will they believe their own propaganda? Five Red Balloons by Mack Gordon (Kelowna), directed by Chelsea Haberlin Inmates of a mental asylum perform a play-within-a-play about the end of the world. “Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” Reality and fiction blur in this surreal, apocalyptic world. Indiana Jones and the Wannabe Nemesis by Duncan Patterson (Ottawa), directed by Colby Wilson Professor Bennett has been obsessed with Indiana Jones since he was 7 and had tonsillitis and had to stay home during spring break. His dad rented him the Indie trilogy, and he was hooked. But superheroes make life look effortless, and as he grows up, he learns that the reality of life is not like The Raiders of the Lost Ark. A touching and hysterical coming-of-age story. Baggage written and directed by Sebastien Archibald (Montreal) Everyone has baggage. We all know it, we just don’t talk about it. On this first date, the Man and the Woman physically bring their baggage along, producing a steady stream of exes, families, likes and dislikes, and even some porn. Is it better to show your baggage up front, or would that make it impossible for any relationship to thrive?

Grimm Tales

By Sebastien Archibald
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin June 2007/July 2008—Mount Douglas Park, Victoria BC
August 2008 Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancovuer BC“THE WOODS ARE LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP” —Robert Frost Grimm Tales takes audiences on a magical journey through the Enchanted Forest with rookie tour guides Hansel and Gretel on their first day of work for the Greater Enchanted Forestry Board. Along the way they encounter the fascinating inhabitants of the fantastical fairytale kingdom. Underscored and accompanied by the Bremen Town Musicians, audiences are re-introduced to the classic tales of the Frog Prince, Rumplestiltskin, Rapunzel and Briar Rose in a farcical and contemporary context. However, when Hansel and Gretel find themselves off of the assigned path and lost, they begin to discover “the woods are lovely, dark and deep”.

Casualties of Progress

By Sebastien Archibald
Directed By Chelsea HaberlinApril 2008—PAL Theatre, Vancouver BC “WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE NOT TO SEE?” Sit on the used, battered furniture and join a world of drop-outs, junkies and jaded perceptions. Experience the aftermath of two friends, Ben and Mike, who have witnessed a horrid and graphic crime. Spiral with Ben into self-reflection as he grapples with his own guilt and paranoia. Wrestle with the ignorance and apathy that plague his surroundings. Then venture with Mike as he explores a unique opportunity to profit from their coincidental findings. Join the unapologetic examination of social responsibility and decide for yourself what you choose not to see.

2006

Death of a Clown

By Sebastien Archibald
Directed by Chelsea HaberlinAugust/September 2006—Victoria Fringe Festival Set in a surreal world of consumerism and corporate evangelism, this dark comic satire mixes the styles of European clown, Brecht, and Orwell. Roy was once climbing to the top of the corporate ladder, sifting through a world of cowboys, zombies, lawyers, and robots. But Roy’s fate was forever sealed when he crossed a line he could never return from.

2005

Alice in Wonderland

Adapted and Directed by Chelsea Haberlin August/September, 2005 Finnerty Gardens at UVic A compilation of scenes from the classic stories by Lewis Carroll brought to life in a whimsical outdoor setting. Follow Alice down the rabbit hole and into the world of the Mad Hatter, Dweedle Dee and Dweedle Dum, The Cheshire Cat and many more of the much loved characters from Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

2004

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

By William Shakespeare
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin August 2004—The Finnerty Gardens at UVic Shakespeare’s classic story of fairies, magic, young lovers, Kings and Queens comes to life in the Magical Finnerty Gardens. Two sets of couples (Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius) have their romantic cross-purposes complicated still further by their entrance into the play’s fairyland woods where the King and Queen of the Fairies (Oberon and Titania) preside and the impish folk character of Puck or Robin Goodfellow plies his trade.

The Zoo Story

By Edward Albee
Directed by Chelsea HaberlinMay 2004—UCFV Director’s Festival, Chilliwack BC Jerry is a man consumed with loneliness who starts up a conversation with another man, Peter, on a bench in Central Park and eventually forces him to participate in an act of violence. Combining both realistic and absurd elements, The Zoo Story is a short but multi-leveled play dealing with issues of human isolation, loneliness, class differences, and the dangers of inaction within modern society.